


Bait

by Qwerty_2poynt0



Series: Inktober 2019 Half Marathon [2]
Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Comfort, Friendship/Love, Gen, Hugs, I Love You, Injury, Inktober 2019, what do you mean I'm projecting?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-24 03:34:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20900972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qwerty_2poynt0/pseuds/Qwerty_2poynt0
Summary: "I mean you have to admit," Luciel said from his chair next to Yoosung's bed, "It's got the element of surprise.""And it got Vanderwood to visit!" Yoosung chimed in."Because you broke your leg. And fractured your arm. And sustained God knows how many bruises."(At first I posted this without a summary but it's fiiiiiine)Seven and Yoosung miss their snarky fren and act accordingly. Soft mushies ensue.





	Bait

"Yoosung, are you sure you're okay with this?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Seven. Just like I was the last two times you asked me."

"I know, I know, it's just... this is a very delicate operation."

"Yeah, but you've got my back. And I'm much tougher than you keep making me out to be."

"Okay. Ready?"

"Ready."

Yoosung jumped off the roof.

-+-

"Okay so let me get this straight." Jumin paced back and forth at the foot of the hospital bed. "You two, over the course of three days, thought it would be a brilliant idea to set up a combination Rube Goldberg machine and stunt run. With no experience creating or enacting either of those things. You told no one about this. And then, instead of calling an ambulance, you message the group chat and say the two of you fell off a roof. And you did all this to lure Luciel's maid friend out of whatever hidey hole he's disappeared into because you miss him?"

"I mean you have to admit," Luciel said from his chair next to Yoosung's bed, "It's got the element of surprise."

"And it got Vanderwood to visit!" Yoosung chimed in.

"Because you broke your leg. And fractured your arm. And sustained God knows how many bruises."

"Details details." Luciel waved his hand not encumbered in a sling.

"Yes! Many details that the two of you don't seem to grasp."

"Jumin, I know you lecture because you care," Yoosung said, "But we've heard this same lecture twice and a half already."

Jaehee, Zen, and MC all already swung by to give the two a piece of their minds. Luciel said Vanderwood would take his sweet time coming by, and Yoosung hated that proved to be right.

"Well allow me to round that up to four, because you can't just do such crazy things for attention. What was wrong with just asking Vanderwood to come by?"

"If we tried that, he might say no." Luciel pointed out. 

Jumin gave the two a flat, glowering expression.

"You two are unbelievable."

"Thank you, we try~" Luciel chirped.

"Sevennn." Yoosung elbowed his compatriot, giving him a 'Please do not make this worse for us' look. Jumin rolled his eyes.

"And you didn't think to inform anyone else and ask for advice to do something less asinine to get his attention because..?"

"Seven knows Vanderwood really well. He wouldn't come out of hiding for anything less."

Jumin clearly did not believe that. 

"There were a million more tactful, less damaging ways to do this."

"Yeah, but this one had the highest chance for success." Luciel parried.

"And are _you_ about to teach us a lesson about tact?" Yoosung added.

Jumin put his head in his hand. "You know what? I'm just going to go back home and we will continue this conversation later."

Jumin left and Luciel and Yoosung sighed in tandem.

"When do you think Vanderwood will get here?" Yoosung asked. 

"Well if he doesn't get here within the next two hours, he's not coming at all."

"... Are you sure we did the right thing?"

Luciel thought a moment.

"We did what made sense. And what made sense was setting the bait and hoping to catch whatever he's willing to give us."

"Yeah. Yeah okay."

-+-

Vanderwood paced in the waiting room. He knew what was happening. He knew Luciel just wanted him here, but the why killed him. What kind of calamity would constitute this stunt? Was this some kind of secret message he didn't get? Maybe he should prepare himself for a fight. Well, 70- Luciel cared very deeply for Yposung, he wouldn't put him in danger. Or would he? Maybe he would. Maybe he wouldn't. Wouldn't more than likely.

Okay, really he should just go in and see before visiting hours were up.

So, he steeled himself for anything. Probably thought himself into more of a frenzy than strictly necessary, dismantled the tense ball of anxiety. And did it all over again. And again. And again.

Eventually, he couldn't stand it any longer. He felt like he was headed straight into a trap, but he still ascended the stairs and scanned the room numbers. He knew what Luciel's mind was capable of, and he wasn't sure what he was about to get himself into.

So when he walked into the room, he didn't expect the two's faces light up.

"You came!" Lucel stood and took a few steps toward Vanderwood as the latter made his way to the bedside.

"Um... Well of course I would."

"Where have you been? " Yoosung piled on, "When did you plan on getting back? How come you've been so distant?"

Vanderwood almost got lost in the deluge. He shook is head clear as Luciel came to stand in front of him. It always bothered Vanderwood that Luciel stood so freakishly tall compared to him. Or most people for that matter. Still, if he needed to, he could easily incapacitate the man.

"What's going on?" Vanderwood asked. "Why did you two do this?"

"We..." Luciel looked down at him, his brow knitted together. Nerves shone through 707's every cell, but backing all of that was something else. Something Vanderwood couldn't quite see clearly. "We missed you. We were worried. And we were afraid that... that you wouldn't even respond to anything less. I'm sorry, I know it was stupid, I knew full well as we were doing it what an awful idea it was, I just..."

Luciel looked away, and Yoosung picked up for him.

"I'm sorry too. We really hate to worry people, but... you just disappeared! One day you just stopped coming into the chat room, and it's not like we see you just around town most days, you live out in the middle of nowhere. And everyone was super worried Vanderwood! But they figured out ways to calm down so much easier than we did. Jumin figured you just wanted space, Zen thought you were working on something, MC and Jaehee both figured you might've just broken your cellphone or something, and even Searan tried to explain it away with a bunch of different theories, but... we..."

Vanderwood looked between the two. Luciel's arm was in a sling. Probably a dislocated shoulder. Yoosung's right arm and leg were mummified into casts. Both of them looked at him with... their expressions were... almost as if...

"Why'd you disappear?" Luciel asked softly.

"I..." Vanderwood couldn't hold Luciel's gaze. It hurt somehow. Made his stomach twist in an unfamiliar way. "Sometimes I just... it's... hard for me. Being with everyone sometimes."

His throat constricted, but he forced himself to speak anyway against the piece of him screaming to just brush this off and keep his emotions to himself. "I don't... know how to act around all of you. I can tell the RFA doesn't exactly concern themselves with me as closely as the rest of the members." _Stop fucking shaking._ "Everyone else is just... better at being close and trusting one another. So I... wanted to watch and try to... figure out what was wrong with me."

Before Vanderwood could look back up to gauge how badly he fucked up, he was wrapped up in Luciel's arms. Or... working arm.

"Vanderwood, sweetie, you didn't do anything wrong." Luciel mumbled into his hair. "We love you."

"I think you're really neat." Yoosung said, drawing Vanderwood's eye to him. "You're nice to talk to and you're super smart. I like spending time with you."

Vanderwood found himself incapable of doing anything but stare. The air in his lungs felt heavier, and he couldn't move.

"Vanderwood?" Yoosung whispered.

"... Why are you like this?" He hated the way his voice cracked and wobbled. Luciel squeezed him tighter and he found himself leaning into him.

"Shh, it's okay, I promise. You're safe with us, remember? There's nothing wrong with you. We love you."

"You can't just... speak for other people so casually like that." The words came out clipped and biting, and he buried his face in Luciel's shirt to try and hide from how much hearing himself hurt.

"Well... think of it as a smaller 'we' then." Yoosung's gentle suggestion came through soft and muffled. "Seven and I love you lots. You're our friend and we want you to be safe and happy."

"... But why? You barely know me." He looked up at Luciel to address him, and when he did, something tore at his heart. "_You've_ called me a walking box of weapons, I tried to _kill you,_ I- I'm never nice to you, not like how you are with... everyone. How can the two of you..."

He realized he was clinging to the edge of Luciel's shirt and let go, jerking away entirely. Luciel let him back away, but his hand stayed firmly planted on Vanderwood's shoulder.

"Vanderwood." Luciel looked him in the eye and he wouldn't be able to look away if he tried. "We love you. Okay? You're not just a buggy line of code that needs fixing. That we can just delete or replace. You don't outlive your usefulness with us. We love you because you existing in our lives makes our lives better. Do you understand?"

"... No." Vanderwood broke eye contact. "I don't."

"That's okay." Yoosung said softly, "It doesn't change anything. We love you no matter what. All the RFA does. You add something no one else can bring, even if you are a little reclusive about it."

"And we worry when you do things like go off the map for three weeks straight without saying anything."

"So please, next time just talk to us. We promise we'll listen. And we'll tell you whatever it is you need to hear. Okay?"

Vanderwood continued to stare at the linoleum. He stayed that way for a good few seconds. Then, he reached up and grabbed Luciel's wrist, pulling his hand off his shoulder. Luciel didn't resist.

He carefully lowered Luciel's hand in front of him. Then folded it between his own palms, focusing his attention there to try and keep his wits about him as he spoke.

"... Don't get hurt for me again." He whispered. "I... I love you too much."

He didn't see the way Luciel and Yoosung's faces gradually turned to beaming smiles. How they looked to one another, relieved and ecstatic. All he saw was Luciel's hand gripping his tighter.

**Author's Note:**

> In 👏 this 👏 house 👏 we 👏 love 👏 and 👏 appreciate 👏 Vanderwood👏!👏!👏!👏  
In other news, this is days late, hahaaaaa, but in my defense, I act and had to open and close a show these past three days, so I couldn't really squeeze Inktober into there until today. Does this follow the prompt all that closely? ‾\\_(ツ)_/‾  
Either way, thanks for reading~ Now I've gotta write Day 5's prompt and get it up before I do Day 7's prompt tomorrow, ha haaaaa.


End file.
